Start Tyler Shough or Kirk Cousins? Week 7

Updated Oct 21, 3:01 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

Early kickoff: 9:30 AM ET in Paris, set your lineup before then.

Start Tyler Shough over Kirk Cousins

Start

Tyler Shough

QB · NO · vs PIT

Market projects: 17.2; fantasy pts
PIT D vs QB: 12.9; 4th fewest to QBs (2026)
Upside: Rising; 66 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 100%; Through Week 6

Sit

Kirk Cousins

QB · LV · vs LAR

Market projects: 16.7; fantasy pts
LAR D vs QB: 17.4; 16th most to QBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 26 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 98%; Through Week 6

Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Tyler Shough?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Tyler Shough projects 172 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (17.2 a game over 10 games), Kirk Cousins 145 (14.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Tyler Shough over Kirk Cousins, 17.2 to 16.7 projected PPR points.

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Our Week 7 call

Start Tyler Shough over Kirk Cousins in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Tyler Shough at 17.2 points and Kirk Cousins at 16.7, a gap of 0.5. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Kirk Cousins's number is scaled up from a partial market: not every stat the position needs is posted yet, so the rest is estimated from what is.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 17.2 fantasy points for Tyler Shough, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Tyler Shough is 233 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 0-1 interceptions, 15 rushing yards and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (10, 14, 7, 12 and 13 market sources).

Player markets imply 16.7 fantasy points for Kirk Cousins, with 80 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Kirk Cousins is 238 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and under 0.1 rushing touchdowns (13, 13 and 13 market sources).

That puts Tyler Shough 0.5 points ahead of Kirk Cousins on the market projections.

Week 7 matchups

Tyler Shough and NO host PIT on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

PIT allowed 12.9 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 6 games, the 4th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 222 yards and a touchdown a game against PIT, with an interception a game.

Kirk Cousins and LV host LAR on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

LAR allowed 17.4 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 6 games, the 16th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 174 yards and 1.3 touchdowns a game against LAR, with 0.8 interceptions a game.

By points allowed to the position, Kirk Cousins has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Tyler Shough is not on the injury report.

Kirk Cousins is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Tyler Shough played 100 percent of NO snaps, dropped back 255 times and threw an average of 7.8 air yards per attempt.

Tyler Shough, Week 3 against LV: 74 of 74 snaps, 29 of 42 passes for 255 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry for 36 yards.

Tyler Shough, Week 4 against ATL: 74 of 74 snaps, 30 of 48 passes for 286 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 5 yards.

Tyler Shough, Week 5 against MIN: 45 of 45 snaps, 16 of 25 passes for 96 yards, 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Tyler Shough, Week 6 against NYG: 70 of 72 snaps, 16 of 30 passes for 144 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 4 carries for 33 yards.

Through Week 6, Kirk Cousins played 98 percent of LV snaps, dropped back 221 times and threw an average of 8.4 air yards per attempt.

Kirk Cousins, Week 3 against NO: 70 of 70 snaps, 22 of 33 passes for 248 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 5 yards.

Kirk Cousins, Week 4 against KC: 84 of 84 snaps, 31 of 49 passes for 365 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Kirk Cousins, Week 5 against NE: 50 of 60 snaps, 19 of 28 passes for 243 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions.

Kirk Cousins, Week 6 against BUF: 66 of 66 snaps, 23 of 41 passes for 313 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Tyler Shough played 11 games for NO and scored 164.0 PPR points, 14.9 a game, finishing QB26.

He completed 221 of 327 passes for 2384 yards, 10 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, and ran 45 times for 186 yards and 3 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 51 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Kirk Cousins played 10 games for ATL and scored 108.5 PPR points, 10.9 a game, finishing QB35.

He completed 166 of 269 passes for 1721 yards, 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and ran 14 times for 7 yards and 1 touchdown.

He was on the field for 46 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 7 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 7, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Tyler Shough?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Tyler Shough projects 172 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (17.2 a game over 10 games), Kirk Cousins 145 (14.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Tyler Shough over Kirk Cousins, 17.2 to 16.7 projected PPR points.
Should I drop Tyler Shough for Kirk Cousins?
No. Keep Tyler Shough: he projects 172 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (17.2 a game over 10 games), Kirk Cousins 145 (14.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Tyler Shough over Kirk Cousins, 17.2 to 16.7 projected PPR points.